GENERAL INFORMATION: Water Bears
Tardigrades or "Tardigrada" means slow walker
- can transform into a dry state which can return to life after years
- in dry state need only a drop of water to revive
- in dry state survive acid and solvent attack
- in dry state survive very high and very low temperatures
- in dry state survive high pressure and radioactive radiation
- have been found under 5 m layers of ice
- have been found in oceans 6000 m below the surface
- have been found on mountains, 6000 m high
- are a phylum of its own
- have escaped exploitation by man for centuries
- moves smoothly like a bear
Characteristics of the Tardigrada
1)Bilaterally symmetrical.
2)Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs.
3)Body cavity is partially a coelom.
4)Most possesses a through straight gut with an anus.
5)Body monomeric.
6)Body possesses 4 pairs of unjointed claw bearing legs.
7)Body possesses a fixed number of cells (eutelic).
8)Has no circulatory or respiratory system.
9)Primitive excretory organs in some species.
10)Reproduction normally sexual and gonochoristic, but can be parthenogenetic.
11)Feed on a plants or small animals.
12)All live in aquatic or damp places, normally associated with vegetation.
Tardigrades or "Tardigrada" means slow walker
- can transform into a dry state which can return to life after years
- in dry state need only a drop of water to revive
- in dry state survive acid and solvent attack
- in dry state survive very high and very low temperatures
- in dry state survive high pressure and radioactive radiation
- have been found under 5 m layers of ice
- have been found in oceans 6000 m below the surface
- have been found on mountains, 6000 m high
- are a phylum of its own
- have escaped exploitation by man for centuries
- moves smoothly like a bear
Characteristics of the Tardigrada
1)Bilaterally symmetrical.
2)Body has more than two cell layers, tissues and organs.
3)Body cavity is partially a coelom.
4)Most possesses a through straight gut with an anus.
5)Body monomeric.
6)Body possesses 4 pairs of unjointed claw bearing legs.
7)Body possesses a fixed number of cells (eutelic).
8)Has no circulatory or respiratory system.
9)Primitive excretory organs in some species.
10)Reproduction normally sexual and gonochoristic, but can be parthenogenetic.
11)Feed on a plants or small animals.
12)All live in aquatic or damp places, normally associated with vegetation.